Yesterday at Manchester City Councils Neighbourhood and Environment Scrutiny Committee, Piccadilly Labour Councillor Jon-Connor Lyons called for a review of noisy construction hours for across Manchester. 

In 2020, Piccadilly Labour launched a campaign to create a balance between city centre living and development, calling for a review of the noisy construction hours. The campaign, which received support from over 100 Piccadilly residents, was cut short by the pandemic.

At the Neighbourhood and Environment Scrutiny Committee, Cllr Jon-Connor Lyons spoke about the impact of noisy construction hours on residents and called for a review of the noisy construction hours policy.

Cllr Lyons said “Early last year myself and Piccadilly Labour launched a campaign to hold a review of our noisy construction hours and create a fairer balance in our city between city living and development.”

“In this report, we can see cities across the UK where they have dense urban neighbourhoods and they’ve taken a modern approach to construction hours, having starting hours starting much much later than our blanket-wide city start time of 7:30am.”

“Cllr Stogia [Executive Councillor with Planning in portfolio], given the campaign we launched and policies from across the UK in different cities, can this Council undertake a review of the Noisy Construction Hours Policy and in doing so, listen to residents and hear what they have to say?”

Cllr Angeliki Stogia, Executive member for Highways, Planning, Transport and the Environment, said “Thank you for your campaign. I remember back in May the Government issued new guidance on construction as more and more people were told to stay at home.”

“So your campaign did highlight the challenges that this presented for our communities especially in the city centre”.

“What we want to do in this case is strike the right balance between allowing department which means jobs and ultimately homes for our residents to take place as managed as it can be particularly in the given circumstances.”

“But also, we want to be very very mindful on the impact it has on residents, especially during the pandemic spending more and more time at home, including working from home”.

“So yes, I am happy to undertake this review”.

Cllr Lyons later said in response “I am delighted that Cllr Stogia has spoken with Council Officers and confirmed that a policy review will be taken.”

“My next steps will be to ensure that there is a way to capture the voices of residents impacted in the city centre to ensure that any policy changes keeps them in mind”.

Cllr Lyons has confirmed he’ll be leading the campaign in Piccadilly Ward to see a policy change as a result of the review, allowing more time for residents in the morning not to be disturbed.